ROBERT X. GOLPHIN: THE BUZZ

Written Transcript of program:

UKEE WASHINGTON: Out on DVD this Tuesday, "The Great Debaters" stars Denzel Washington who also directs. It's about a 1930's professor at a small Texas college who challenges racial divides by assembling a world class debate team. The film also stars Philly native Robert X. Golphin, and Denzel speaks very highly of him.

DENZEL WASHINGTON: He never said anything about his writing and found out later he's written books. Working on screenplays. Making movies. Just was an unusual cat. Came in and read and I was like just something about him that I like. And obviously he's very intelligent.

UKEE WASHINGTON: Golphin was born to be in film. I've known him since he was 12, and he's been involved in the film industry since then. Young man's doing some great things. We wish him well. Continued success.

LIZ KEPTNER: Good for him.

An Exclusive Internet Radio Interview w/ Co-Star, Robert X. Golphin of "The Great Debaters" on US Radio w/ Cleavester Brooks...

Text Transcript Coming Soon...

Local Actor Looks To Inspire

A war of words and an intellectual battle of wits may not sound like a hot topic for a movie. However, people are buzzing about "The Great Debaters" -- a film produced by Oprah Winfrey that features Denzel Washington as both director and star. The movie, which opens on Christmas Day, has already been nominated for a Best Picture Golden Globe award.

"I hope the film inspires young people to debate. The power of words can be amazing," said Robert X. Golphin, a local actor featured in the film. "We have so much violence in the community ... so many kids are engaged in violent activity. If they took the time to talk it out, the world would be a better place."

Golphin, a Philadelphia native who resides in the city's Oak Lane section, plays Dunbar Reed in the film. His character is the guy that wanted to become one of the great debaters but didn't make the team. The 25-year-old said working with Washington was almost an indescribable experience. He spent a total of three or four weeks on set.

"It was a wonderful experience for me," Golphin said. "Though I've gone through the whole collegiate process in terms of filmmaking and acting, the greatest school you can have is being on set and watching a master of his craft, and that's what Denzel is."

Golphin, an award-winning filmmaker/writer/actor who has done a lot of short films and independent features, landed the role after his North Carolina-based agent called him and asked if he could be in North Carolina the next day to audition for a Denzel Washington movie.

"I hopped some trains and buses and auditioned for the local casting director," he said. "Two weeks later I got a call back to audition for Denzel in Atlanta."

"The Great Debaters" is based on the true story of the debate team at Wiley College, a small African-American school in Texas that challenged Harvard University for the national championship in the 1930s.

"This film is about standing your ground for what you believe is right ... the film has a lot of messages that it provides for young people," Golphin said.

"The Great Debaters" is Washington's second directorial undertaking. His first was 2002's "Antwone Fisher."

"It was awesome watching him do what he does," Golphin said. "As great as 'Antwone Fisher' was, in terms of his directing, this tops it hands down."

Candace Kelley, a journalism professor at Rowan University and an award-winning debater during her college days at Howard University from 1989 to 1992, is excited to see "The Great Debaters" because there has been a lack of choice in movies for people who want to see anything that has to do with African-Americans.

"It's a story of triumph," Kelley said. "What might be a larger appeal is that Oprah and Denzel are attached. This is something people will gravitate to because it is so intellectual."

Kelley thinks the film may inspire young people to look into debating. She said debating teaches confidence because you have to speak in front of people, usually in close quarters like a classroom, and be judged while doing it.

"In order to be a great debater, you have to be a great performer," she said. "It's less acting, more interpretation." She described a scenario in which one person can recite paragraph one way and it will get applause and another person can recite the same paragraph, yet move people to tears. "(It takes) a lot of practice and introspection," she said, "because you're not only debating, you're performing."

No bones about ‘The Great Debaters’

Can’t you just feel the power? “The Great Debaters,” which recently received a Golden Globe nomination for best drama, is the result of a collaborative effort between media mogul Oprah Winfrey, who produces the film, and two-time Academy Award winner Denzel Washington. As if that weren’t enough, the film also features the amazing Forest Whitaker.

“The Great Debaters,” based on a true story, is the second directorial effort for Washington, following the emotionally charged “Antwon Fisher” in 2002. He also stars as Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College, a historically Black institution in Texas. In 1935, Tolson inspired students to form the school’s first debate team, which went on to defeat Harvard Univeristy for the national championship.

When it is time to assemble the new team, Tolson’s candidates include the cloying Dunbar Reed (Robert X. Golphin); the volatile and rebellious, but brilliant Henry Lowe (Nate Parker); Samantha Booke (Jurnee Smollett), who is determined to become the first female on the team; the experienced Hamilton Burgess (Jermaine Williams) and James Farmer Jr. (Denzel Whitaker), a timid 15 year old freshman whose father (played by Forest Whitaker) is a strict and respected professor at Wiley.

After a spirited and competitive selection process, Tolson whips his team into fighting shape, using logic, hard work, and a lot of tough love. Soon the team is undefeated, and news of the debate team from a tiny Black college in Texas begins to spread across the county. However, we are talking about rural Texas in 1935, and eventually, rumors about some of Tolson’s alleged extracurricular activities threaten to ruin both his future and the team’s.

As are many things that involve Oprah Winfrey, “The Great Debaters” is highly emotional and deeply inspiring, and the sensitive yet powerful screenplay by Robert Eisele juxtaposes the breathtaking beauty of the American South with the ugliness of the racism that permeated it.

Against this intriguing, but all too familiar canvas, Washington elicits brilliant performances from his extraordinarily talented group of young actors — particularly Smollett, who has grown from the prodigious child actress in “Eve’s Bayou” to a gorgeous woman of great artistic depth. Denzel Whitaker (yes, that is his real name) is endearing as young James Farmer, who is wise beyond his years, until it comes to dealing with his massive crush on the intelligent and fiery Samantha — who only has eyes for the unpredictable womanizer,

Henry. However for me, the most captivating moment came when Washington and Whitaker shared an intense, but all too brief scene in which Tolson and a resentful James Sr. have a rather loud dispute over an incident involving James Jr. The power of these two Oscar winners on screen together is absolutely riveting.

The exquisite Kimberly Elise, who is always wonderful in an understated, quiet way, plays Farmer’s compassionate wife, Pearl. With a stellar cast, passionate, thoughtful direction by Washington, a provocative true story and The Power of “O,” “The Great Debaters,’ opening Christmas Day, is guaranteed to inspire as well as entertain. Rated PG-13

Celebrity Sound Byte: Philadelphia filmmaker/actor Robert X. Golphin on working with Denzel Washington: “It was an incredible experience to work for and with Denzel. He’s the type of Hollywood success story that every true artist should aim to emulate. Humble, respectful, giving and caring. In a scene, it’s always the other actor who makes his opposite better by giving his all, and Denzel does that. In one particular scene, where my character is trying to prove that he should be one of the ‘great debaters,’ it is Denzel’s stern eyes and witty tone that decimates my character’s brown-nosing disposition. But in reality, Denzel is far from intimidating. He makes you feel comfortable and free, and this generosity of his is what sets him apart from the rest. I’m proud to be a member of his cast.”

The November cover story of Men's Vogue featured Denzel Washington and his upcoming film "The Great Debaters" in which he plays real life Melvin Tolson.

The story briefly mentions Robert X. Golphin's character (not by name) at the tail of the story.

Here is a snippet of the Vogue article:
***************************************Cut back to Washington in the editing room. After eight hours of patient struggle, he calls an end to the workday and cues up one of his scenes. Dapper and intellectually meticulous, Tolson is a little Mr. Chips and a lot Mr. Know-It-All. "Sit down," he orders a SIMPERING CHARGE at debate practice, and proceeds to ask fiendishly, "Who's next?" Bouncing from his chair and swinging an arm at the screen, he releases himself from mute concentration, the day of bunting suddenly far behind. "That ain't too bad," he says, and delivers a grinning echo: "Who's next?"
***************************************
That SIMPERING CHARGE just happens to be Dunbar Reed, who is portrayed by ROBERT X. GOLPHIN in the upcoming Harpo Films production.

Philly actor lands role in Denzel Washington flick

Philly native headed to the big screen

Robert Golphin to act opposite Denzel Washington in new film

When I began reporting for the Philadelphia Tribune 10 years ago, I was covering a movie screening for the Philadelphia Film Festival, when a young boy who appeared to be between 12 and 14 years old, walked up to me, handed me his little business card and said, “My name is Robert Golphin, and I am a filmmaker.” Well, I would have been mildly amused by his moxie, but I’d been hearing about this cinematic wunderkind in the local film community, and I made a mental note to speak with him at some point.

In the ensuing years however, the young man and I never could seem to connect — until recently. Golphin, now 25, graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Theatre and Film from St. Augustine’s College in 2006, and just completed filming “The Great Debaters” starring Denzel Washington.

Scheduled for release in 2008, “The Great Debaters” produced by Oprah Winfrey, is Washington’s second directorial effort, following the critically acclaimed, but poorly promoted “Antwone Fisher.” The film is based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at historically Black Wiley College in Texas. In 1935, he inspired students to form the school’s first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship.

The film also features Kimberly Elise, Jurnee Smollett, Nate Parker, Jermaine Williams and Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker.

“I play a character named Dunbar Reed,” said Golphin, who grew up in the Oak Lane section of the city and attended Philadelphia’s prestigious High School for The Creative & Performing Arts.

“I’m basically a ‘suck up’ to Mr. Tolson — that’s Denzel’s character, my teacher. I’m a bit arrogant, and I was on the debate team last year, and I want to be on the debate team this year, but I have major competition from some other students and from a girl — because back in the 1930s, girls had never been on the debate team.”

Golphin, a member of the Screen Actors Guild, has appeared in an episode of the hit HBO series “The Wire,” and in the feature film “The Beautiful Ordinary.” Behind the camera, he has also served as a crew member for the crime series “Hack,” and the feature film “White Men Can’t Rap.” While his main focus is on screenwriting, directing, and developing his own film projects, Golphin welcomed the opportunity to appear in a film with Washington, a two-time Academy Award winner.

“My agent called and said I had an audition for the film,” Golphin explained. “So I had to hustle and hop a train from Philly to the Carolinas, hop a bus to the audition, and eventually I got a callback in Atlanta to read for Denzel himself. Basically, this is a span of about three or four weeks. I did it all on my own dime, but when you’re hungry, you do what you have to do.”
While Golphin had a significant role in “The Great Debaters,” like any other actor, he has no idea how much of his performance will be included in the final edited version of the film. “You never know in this business what’s going to stay or go, but I have one really great scene with Denzel where he’s kind of cutting my character down to size. So I’m looking forward to seeing how that plays.”
Regardless of what does or does not end up on the cutting room floor, Golphin’s experience working with Washington can only be viewed as positive. “ He just made everyone, from the [production assistant] to the background actors, feel like they were the most important people involved in the production,” Golphin said. “He’s serious, of course, about his craft, both as director and actor, but he’s also a big goof ball, and the morale on his set was great. I was there for a little less than a month, but from what I could experience and witness, the team was a great family. I miss those guys.”

Filming “The Great Debaters” was also a learning experience for Golphin, who spoke of Washington’s impact on his own outlook as a filmmaker. “It reinforces for me that no matter what position you’re in, in terms of power, that it still takes a village to raise a child, and that applies to the movie industry as well,” he said. “He was very concerned with everyone’s role — whether they were cast or crew, because he just wanted everything to run smoothly, and while I was there, it didn’t. I mean, we had some long days, but no one was complaining.”

I can’t say that I’m surprised that the little boy that I encountered all those years ago has arrived at this particular place in time, since even then, his determination and sense of purpose were nearly palpable.

“My mom got me involved in the modeling and acting thing when I was very young — I guess about five or six,” he recalled. “[Film] didn’t really become something that I felt destined to do until about 14. There was a place in Willow Grove that doesn’t exist anymore, but it was called Cine Kid, and it basically was a facility that helped young people make movies and television shows. We actually were able to put our hands on state-of-the-art equipment, and that changed everything for me, because before [age] 14, I never really was able to touch the cameras and the microphones, and it was an incredible experience for me as a kid. That’s when I got bitten by the bug of both filmmaking and acting.”

Now maintaining that, “Hollywood’s putting about a bunch of crap,” Golphin, whose cinematic style is “constantly evolving,” is working on making his own mark in the industry. “I am starring in a short film that I’m also producing right now. That’s the ‘Beautiful Man in the Buff’ project,” he said.

“‘The Beautiful Man in the Buff’ is a story about a young actor who is struggling to make it in the business, and he has a lot of people to please. But you can only really please some of the people some of the time. There’s always going to be someone who likes you and someone that doesn’t, and I think a lot of people will relate to this film once it’s done because all of us have certain insecurities.”

Gophin confidently referred to “The Great Debaters” as “Oscar Gold,” and recently his own screenplay, “Between Midnight and Mourning,” which focused on the violence in Philadelphia, placed second in “25 years and younger” division of the “Set in Philadelphia” screenwriting competition sponsored by the Greater Philadelphia Film Office. He states that while awards are not his primary motivation, he finds such recognition quite fulfilling.

“I would love to put an Oscar on my shelf or just a nomination in the very, very near future,” he said. “But of course when I set out to make a film, I’m not sitting there saying, ‘OK. I’m going to do an Oscar-winning performance,’ or ‘I’m going to write an Oscar-winning screenplay.’ No. It’s really about getting that message across, and then afterwards, if you’ve done your job successfully, then maybe that award will come. That’s the way I look at it.”

Philly native headed to the big screen

Robert Golphin to act opposite Denzel Washington in new film

When I began reporting for the Philadelphia Tribune 10 years ago, I was covering a movie screening for the Philadelphia Film Festival, when a young boy who appeared to be between 12 and 14 years old, walked up to me, handed me his little business card and said, “My name is Robert Golphin, and I am a filmmaker.” Well, I would have been mildly amused by his moxie, but I’d been hearing about this cinematic wunderkind in the local film community, and I made a mental note to speak with him at some point.

In the ensuing years however, the young man and I never could seem to connect — until recently. Golphin, now 25, graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Theatre and Film from St. Augustine’s College in 2006, and just completed filming “The Great Debaters” starring Denzel Washington.

Scheduled for release in 2008, “The Great Debaters” produced by Oprah Winfrey, is Washington’s second directorial effort, following the critically acclaimed, but poorly promoted “Antwone Fisher.” The film is based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at historically Black Wiley College in Texas. In 1935, he inspired students to form the school’s first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship.

The film also features Kimberly Elise, Jurnee Smollett, Nate Parker, Jermaine Williams and Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker.

“I play a character named Dunbar Reed,” said Golphin, who grew up in the Oak Lane section of the city and attended Philadelphia’s prestigious High School for The Creative & Performing Arts.

“I’m basically a ‘suck up’ to Mr. Tolson — that’s Denzel’s character, my teacher. I’m a bit arrogant, and I was on the debate team last year, and I want to be on the debate team this year, but I have major competition from some other students and from a girl — because back in the 1930s, girls had never been on the debate team.”

Golphin, a member of the Screen Actors Guild, has appeared in an episode of the hit HBO series “The Wire,” and in the feature film “The Beautiful Ordinary.” Behind the camera, he has also served as a crew member for the crime series “Hack,” and the feature film “White Men Can’t Rap.” While his main focus is on screenwriting, directing, and developing his own film projects, Golphin welcomed the opportunity to appear in a film with Washington, a two-time Academy Award winner.

“My agent called and said I had an audition for the film,” Golphin explained. “So I had to hustle and hop a train from Philly to the Carolinas, hop a bus to the audition, and eventually I got a callback in Atlanta to read for Denzel himself. Basically, this is a span of about three or four weeks. I did it all on my own dime, but when you’re hungry, you do what you have to do.”
While Golphin had a significant role in “The Great Debaters,” like any other actor, he has no idea how much of his performance will be included in the final edited version of the film. “You never know in this business what’s going to stay or go, but I have one really great scene with Denzel where he’s kind of cutting my character down to size. So I’m looking forward to seeing how that plays.”
Regardless of what does or does not end up on the cutting room floor, Golphin’s experience working with Washington can only be viewed as positive. “ He just made everyone, from the [production assistant] to the background actors, feel like they were the most important people involved in the production,” Golphin said. “He’s serious, of course, about his craft, both as director and actor, but he’s also a big goof ball, and the morale on his set was great. I was there for a little less than a month, but from what I could experience and witness, the team was a great family. I miss those guys.”

Filming “The Great Debaters” was also a learning experience for Golphin, who spoke of Washington’s impact on his own outlook as a filmmaker. “It reinforces for me that no matter what position you’re in, in terms of power, that it still takes a village to raise a child, and that applies to the movie industry as well,” he said. “He was very concerned with everyone’s role — whether they were cast or crew, because he just wanted everything to run smoothly, and while I was there, it didn’t. I mean, we had some long days, but no one was complaining.”

I can’t say that I’m surprised that the little boy that I encountered all those years ago has arrived at this particular place in time, since even then, his determination and sense of purpose were nearly palpable.

“My mom got me involved in the modeling and acting thing when I was very young — I guess about five or six,” he recalled. “[Film] didn’t really become something that I felt destined to do until about 14. There was a place in Willow Grove that doesn’t exist anymore, but it was called Cine Kid, and it basically was a facility that helped young people make movies and television shows. We actually were able to put our hands on state-of-the-art equipment, and that changed everything for me, because before [age] 14, I never really was able to touch the cameras and the microphones, and it was an incredible experience for me as a kid. That’s when I got bitten by the bug of both filmmaking and acting.”

Now maintaining that, “Hollywood’s putting about a bunch of crap,” Golphin, whose cinematic style is “constantly evolving,” is working on making his own mark in the industry. “I am starring in a short film that I’m also producing right now. That’s the ‘Beautiful Man in the Buff’ project,” he said.

“‘The Beautiful Man in the Buff’ is a story about a young actor who is struggling to make it in the business, and he has a lot of people to please. But you can only really please some of the people some of the time. There’s always going to be someone who likes you and someone that doesn’t, and I think a lot of people will relate to this film once it’s done because all of us have certain insecurities.”

Gophin confidently referred to “The Great Debaters” as “Oscar Gold,” and recently his own screenplay, “Between Midnight and Mourning,” which focused on the violence in Philadelphia, placed second in “25 years and younger” division of the “Set in Philadelphia” screenwriting competition sponsored by the Greater Philadelphia Film Office. He states that while awards are not his primary motivation, he finds such recognition quite fulfilling.

“I would love to put an Oscar on my shelf or just a nomination in the very, very near future,” he said. “But of course when I set out to make a film, I’m not sitting there saying, ‘OK. I’m going to do an Oscar-winning performance,’ or ‘I’m going to write an Oscar-winning screenplay.’ No. It’s really about getting that message across, and then afterwards, if you’ve done your job successfully, then maybe that award will come. That’s the way I look at it.”